1. Field of the Invention
The general field of the present invention is decontamination, more particularly decontamination of water borne human wastes contained in a holding tank, specifically a holding tank that is part of a self contained convenience facility which allows people to relieve themselves of bodily wastes.
2. General Background
The disposal of human wastes in the United States is broadly and generally conducted with sewage systems including large scale open vats wherein certain bacteria are fostered to decompose the wastes into environmentally benign effluent. It is with this sense that the phrase `decontamination of human wastes` is herein utilized. ` Disposal of human wastes`, as understood herein, indicates delivery of the wastes to a common sewage system.
The practice by conventional sewage systems of using certain bacteria in association with open vats of sewage developed historically in a relatively poorly understood facilitaion of naturally occurring phenomena which recently has become better understood. Specific bacteriums are now produced in large quantity and, in an aqueous medium, pumped into open systems to facilitate more effective decontamination of the human wastes in sewage. Decontamination of human wastes is a primary concern of conventional sewage plants.
The concerns relating to the wastes in holding tanks of self contained convenience facilities, alternatively, have been limited to that of rendering the wastes relatively inoffensive to the users of the facilities and simple disposal of the contents of the holding tank. Pursuit of these two objectives has led to the use of holding tanks which are sealed except during the brief interval required to flush wastes from an auxiliary basin above the holding tank into the same. The basin typically comprises a cover to the holding tank and the exterior surface of the basin is rinsed with a stream of water while the cover is inclined inward into the tank. This action constitutes flushing of such a facility. The holding tank is easily removed from the facility and easily emptied.
Formaldehyde is extremely effective in rendering the wastes relatively inoffensive to human olfactory senses and the use of it, in conjunction with a facility having a normally sealed holding tank of the type described immediately above, has endured through decades, to the present. The instant invention is not concerned with conventional sewage systems but with the decontamination of human wastes deposited into holding tanks in what is described herein as a self contained convenience facility of the type provided in a train carriage, an airplane, a portable type convenience booth, etc. which commonly utilize holding tanks, the contents of which are commonly treated with formaldehyde.
Statement of Need
Formaldehyde is a persistent, toxic substance which does not break down readily and is now generally considered toxic with regard to disposal in public sewage systems and hence impedes proper disposal of the human wastes contained in the holding tanks of self contained convenience facilities. Other agents utilized in such holding tanks similarly fail to effect decontamination of the human wastes held and constitute an additional toxic disposal problem. Hence a need exists for rendering inoffensive to human olfactory senses the human wastes held in a storage tank of a self contained convenience facility which does not pose an additional toxic disposal problem and does not impede the proper disposal and subsequent decomposition of the human wastes.